{"id":53009,"date":"2015-07-06T11:49:57","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T11:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/?p=53009"},"modified":"2017-03-01T11:51:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T11:51:43","slug":"new-noise-elijah-blake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/2015\/07\/06\/new-noise-elijah-blake\/","title":{"rendered":"New Noise: Elijah Blake"},"content":{"rendered":"

We catch up with Grammy Award-winNing artist, Elijah Blake to talk inspirations, collaborations and his new album ‘Shadows & Diamonds<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Elijah Blake has become the secret weapon behind hits from Rick Ross, Rihanna, Nas, Common, Alicia Keys, and Usher with whom he penned his Grammy-winning and UK top five smash \u201cClimax\u201d, and we were lucky enough to catch-up with the man himself for a New Noise grilling. Enjoy.<\/p>\n

When did you start singing?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I started singing when I was seven years old. I was at church and the choir director happened to be doing a rehearsal so he told me to come up and sing with everyone. That was the first time someone told me my voice was something special. After that, I did my first solo and saw the power of singing and how it heals people \u2013 that\u2019s when I decided I wanted to become a singer.<\/p>\n

What music artists inspire you the most?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I would definitely say Prince, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Marley.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re signed to the legendary No I.D.\u2019s label in the U.S. and he executive produced your album. How did that come about?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

He heard about me through other people so we were actually supposed to meet up a bunch of times but for some reason it never happened. Eventually, someone played him one of my songs and he really loved it. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

How would you describe your creative process?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a conversation with myself \u2013 it\u2019s really how honest I\u2019m prepared to be with myself and really sitting down and thinking about things that have made me who I am today. I take those life experiences and they become the material for my songs. If I\u2019m in the studio with other people, the process is more so talking with them about what they\u2019ve been through and helping tell their personal story.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve written for some huge names (Rihanna, Nas, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Common, Usher). Is there anything you learnt while working with these iconic artists that has helped you while releasing your debut album?<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, I think it\u2019s always a blessing when you get to rub shoulders with legends like that. It\u2019s not even necessarily the conversations that are had when the mic is on, it\u2019s more so what we talk about when the mic is off. It\u2019s those good conversations that you can have where you learn cool little things about each artist that you wouldn\u2019t necessarily know about that person until you can just sit down with them and talk. It\u2019s the things that aren\u2019t even related to music that really stick with me.<\/p>\n